Ashburnham, Ashby win 'Green Communities' grants

Ashburnham and Ashby are among the seven communities to receive Green Communities Competitive Grants, which they'll use to make municipal building more energy efficient.

Sen. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, a member of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, announced the grants last Monday.

"Congratulations to these seven communities on being awarded grant funding through the Green Communities program," Sen. Gobi said in a statement. "It takes hard work on the part of municipalities to be eligible for these awards and these communities all did their part for the greater good on the Commonwealth and the environment."

Ashby was awarded a grant totaling $100,981. The money will be spent installing two new boiler systems, in Town Hall and the Ashby Free Public Library, said Town Administrator Bob Hanson.

The Town Hall heating system costs $65,071 and includes the large-capacity tank and new programmable thermostats. The town will spend $35,910 on a new boiler for the library.

Ashburnham was awarded a $217,300 grant to install a new heating and cooling system in the town library, which, according to Town Administrator Heather Budrewicz, is "by far" the least energy efficient building in the town.

The library's current 30-year-old HVAC system is "obsolete by today's standards," according to Budrewicz.

The grant will help the town inch closer toward a goal set in 2013 to reduce municipal energy consumption by 20 percent.

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From 2013 to 2016, the town cut energy expenditure by 11 percent.

The new HVAC system is expected to reduce consumption by another 5 percent, bringing the total amount cut to 16 percent.

The HVAC system is expected to improve air quality in the library and make way for the removal of a 50-year-old underground oil tank. Town plans to apply for additional grant funding to finance the removal of the 3,000 gallon tank.

Green Communities Competitive grants are administered by the Department of Energy Resources.

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